How is your furnace like the heart of your home?

How is your furnace like the heart of your home?

It’s the unsung hero sitting out of sight. You don’t think about it unless something is wrong. And after a while, you don’t even notice when it comes on and goes off. In a way, your furnace is the heart of your home’sheating and air-conditioning system.

It’s all about the flow.

Like a heart, your furnace is responsible for keeping everything moving. Winter, summer, spring or fall, the furnace is pushing air through your ducts.

To move this air, your furnace has a blower motor connected to fan blades.

The type of fan motor your furnace uses can affect the comfort level in your home, and the amount of energy you use.

Single-speed motor(PSC): Operates at full blast, or not at all. Found in less efficient furnaces.

Constant Torque Motor: Can adjust airflow based on heating or cooling need to maintain even circulation. Operates quieter on continuous fan speed and offers efficiency savings up to 33% more than standard single speed motors.

Variable-speed motor: Provides the highest level of comfort and energy efficiency. Variable-speed motors can operate at high speeds, low speeds, and anywhere in between, ramping up and down like a dimmer switch.

Because they can fine-tune airflow to heating or cooling demand, they minimize wasted electricity and ensure the money spent on utility bills goes directly into the comfort of your home. Variable-speed motors also prevent blasts of uncomfortable air that occur when single-speed systems start up, providing year round comfort.

It never stops.

In the winter, your furnace pulls double duty by both warming and circulating the air. It does so by passing air over a metal structure called the “heat exchanger” that has been warmed to a high temperature by gas or electric heat.

During the summer months, when heating isn’t needed, your furnace turns off its heating capabilities. However, it still works hard every day to circulate cooled air through your home.

It helps keep clean air circulating.

Your heart moves blood through your kidneys to remove impurities. Your furnace does the same thing by moving air through your home air filtration system. As long as your filter isn’t clogged, and the air is flowing, impurities are being captured and taken out of circulation.

You can help it last longer by taking care of it.

Your heart can affect your health like few other things. When it’s sick, nothing works right. In much the same way, a healthy furnace can make your whole home feel better, and help you use less energy every month. The best ways to keep your furnace healthy and happy include:

Checking your air filter. A clogged filter makes your furnace work harder, because the air doesn’t flow as freely. Regular replacement of disposable filters, or regular cleaning of washable filtration components, will keep the air moving like it should.

Getting a professional opinion. Regular seasonal system checks from AW Heating and Air Conditioning will keep your equipment working at peak efficiency, and help you detect and address any maintenance issues before they become serious.